GODS and GODDESSES
Hanuman (Anjaneya) - The monkey-God
Hanuman Jayanti - a spiritual celebration
Information from Forum for Hindu Awakening
Prevalent ritualistic worship
In Maharashtra, Saturday is considered
to be the day of Maruti while in rest of India (Bhaarat) both Tuesday and
Wednesday are considered to be His days. There is a custom of offering
sindoor and oil to Maruti on these days. Breaking a coconut in front of
Maruti also appears to be an age old custom. For spiritual progress, Maruti
with His face to the left (Vaammukhi Maruti) or Maruti with an attitude
of service (Daas Maruti) is worshipped.
Why should oil, sindoor and leaves
of calotropis (ruee) be offered to Sree Hanuman?
When a particular thing is offered
to a Deity, it is generally explained in simple terms, that the Deity likes
it. For example, Lord Ganapati likes hibiscus flowers (Jaaswanti), Lord
Shankar likes Bel while Lord Vishnu likes Tulsi. A story is then told to
further elaborate this point. However, the superior Deities like Shankar,
Vishnu and Ganapati do not have any likes or dislikes. The reason underlying
offering a specific thing to a specific deity is described here. One of
the objectives of ritualistic worship is creating Divine consciousness
in the Idol we are worshipping. This helps us progress in our spiritual
practice. The object which has the maximum capacity of creating Divine
consciousness (chaitanya) is offered to the Idol; hence Maruti is offered
oil, sindoor and leaves of calotropis.
Why a sitting idol of Maruti should
not be kept on the altar?
Whenever possible, a seated idol
which represents the unmanifest (nirgun) destroyer (maarak) form of Maruti,
is not kept on the altar because of the need for the manifest destroyer
Principle of Maruti.
To get the benefit of the gross,
manifest and destroyer element, we should avoid installing an idol of Maruti
in a seated posture. Amongst the seven higher deities (Shiva, Ganapati,
Rama, Krishna, Datta, Maruti and Durga), Maruti's Principle (tattva) is
of gross, manifest and destroyer nature. The word 'Hanuman' (Maruti) means
- "One whose 'roar' cannot be fathomed even by Deities." When Deities are
on a destructive mission, they use the 'Maruti' element (which moves at
the speed of wind) as a medium to appear in the Universe. Hence He is referred
to as Maruti. Maruti means the one, who with the help of His wind Principle,
compels the Deities to get manifested (moort) in the Universe, for the
welfare of their devotees. The roar of Maruti is capable of activating
the element of any higher deity in the Universe, engrossed in deep meditation.
Similarly, it also possesses the power to shake all the fourteen planes
(saptalok and saptapaataal).
Maruti, in a seated posture, depicts
the unmanifest form of energy. Maruti, in a warrior posture (Veeraasan)
depicts the manifest form of energy. To obtain benefit of the gross, manifest
and destroyer Principle we should avoid installing a seated idol of Maruti
on the altar. Maruti in a seated position, implies He is in deep meditation,
wherein His motor organs are in a dormant, inactive state. Thus, a common
man will be able to derive very little benefit from this posture of Maruti.
Only when the spiritual level** of an embodied soul is above 60%, is he
capable of activating the element present in an idol in meditation, through
his devotion.
Excerpts from article featured at
Forum for Hindu Awakening
To read the complete article, visit forumforhinduawakening.org/
Ashtalakshmi temple, Besant Nagar, Chennai
|
